Thursday, March 9, 2017

The green roof is comprised of a waterproofing membrane of existing sloped (4:12) asphalt shingles, a layer of wind mesh, 20 mm of 96% inorganic soil media and lots of spring mix veggies!

The apparatus in the background is a vapor net installed to capture morning dew and hair water vapor. The dew collector concept is quite simple but very effective and provides all the irrigation this little rooftop veggie garden needs.

Green roofs can be so simple is design yet so successful in contributing to urban sustainability!

Thursday, March 2, 2017

I find inspiration for art from nature - most while in the mangrove estuaries or pop ash swamps.

'Genesis 3' by Kevin Songer, The Beginning of Life

Perhaps because they are life growing out of water. Primal. Primal nature touches a chord in my heart. So over the past year I've been working on what I call "Genesis 3", the story of the beginning of life. I can imagine back to the earliest times, life centered around mangrove estuaries rich in biodiversity. Artists from cultures around the world and through out time have tried to represent their perspective of life's history and my research of the art and language describing the beginning of life has led me to see all these symbols and art about creation may all be different in form or sound but on point say the same thing. English has only been around since the 5th century. Before English the same stories were told in Greek and before greek in Hebrew. However these exact same stories were told in Egyptian long before Hebrew and then before Egyptian they were told in Sumerian. Before Sumerian was proto-Suharan and other African symbols and languages. All the same story but in different symbols. I believe by bringing all these symbols together we can as a world find unity. Looking beyond the language and symbol differences may be a challenge for us raised with the young language, stories and symbols of English - as well as those who speak in ancient art. To bridge that chasm 'Genesis 3' here brings together the host of creation symbols I uncovered during my research. And places these symbols down in the humid cauldron of red mangroves, pop ash, nautilus, butterflies, the moon and more. The story is really the same. We are all one.